Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Patriot Woes for freedomfighterradio.net

United We Stand Divided We Fall!

Check this out: SOURCE


Issue #20.30 :: 02/18/2009 - 02/24/2009
Union down Prosecutor now has case of self-styled “patriot” who was arrested outside polling place while talking about his hatred for Congress and the president
BY ERIC JOHNSON
COLUMBIA COUNTY / AUGUSTA, GA - Jim Stachowiak considers himself a patriot. Because he considers himself a patriot, he flies this flag union down. “Title 36 of the U.S. Code states the display of an upside-down flag is a sign of distress,” he says. Stachowiak knows a lot about things like the U.S. Code and the North American Union and FEMA death camps, and, because he considers himself a patriot, he puts it all on his Web site, freedomfighterradio.net, so the rest of us might know it, too. He calls himself an info warrior. “I went into law enforcement because I bought into the 9/11 lie,” he confesses. “Since then, I’ve changed my views. I’m a free thinker.” Because he considers himself a patriot, he gave a passing George Bush a “Sieg Heil” and called him a Nazi son-of-a-bitch in New Orleans. Because he considers himself a patriot, he has a picture on his Web site of Barack Obama being urinated on, Calvin-style. And because he considers himself a patriot, he got himself arrested with his upside-down flag outside the Evans library polling place the night the nation elected Obama. So, why did he have his flag union down? “To display my love for the country,” he says. “They had the flag right-side up; I wanted to fly mine upside down. It was basically just to serve as a reminder for people who were driving by that this was a serious day and people really needed to be thinking about where this nation’s at.” After awhile, he found himself talking with a woman who ended up becoming concerned enough by what she saw to notify the special-duty deputy working the precinct. “He had a gun holster,” says Captain Bill Probus of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. “He had pepper spray, a bull horn and a stun gun, and he pulls up in front of the library, well within the ‘do-not-say-or-do-anything-political-here’ zone.” Then, Probus says, Stachowiak started talking to the woman about his absolute hatred for the current Congress and president. According to Probus, that wasn’t the issue, however. “It never was the issue,” he insists. “It was the fact that when she questioned him about having a police gun belt, he told her that he was in law enforcement.” Stachowiak is, to be accurate, ex-law enforcement. “Very much ex,” Probus says. Once, he had been a law enforcement officer at ASU, but a personal legal situation kept him from continuing with his career. Stachowiak denies telling the woman he was currently in law enforcement; in fact, he says he specifically told her he was an ex-cop when he noticed her concern at seeing the holster. Regardless, the woman alerted the deputy, and by the time Stachowiak decided to leave, he was stopped by other deputies. Lots of other deputies. “The call went out as a man with a gun at the library,” Probus says. “There were at least half a dozen people on the scene, plus me, but until you know exactly what you’re dealing with, I definitely want to be at the manpower advantage.” Stachowiak was arrested and, according to him, held for 11 hours before he was able to post bond. Because he considers himself a patriot, he feels he is being singled out because of his political views. “I believe my arrest was completely politically motivated,” he says. “I’m 100 percent convinced it was politically motivated, because they don’t like my political agenda. They know where I stand because I’m critical of this government.” Earlier that day, he’d been turned away from his own polling place when he tried to vote carrying his upside-down flag and wearing an empty holster with a copy of the Constitution in it. “I believe the Constitution is our best weapon against tyranny,” he explains. None of that is what got him kicked out of the precinct, however. It was his T-shirt. Depending on who you believe, it either said Fire Congress or Kill Congress. As provocative as all that might have been, Probus makes it clear that he wasn’t arrested for any of that. “That’s protected speech,” he says. “He wasn’t dealt with in that case, he was just administratively asked by the poll manager to please take his shirt off.” Once Stachowiak got his day in court, the county ended up dropping the disorderly conduct charge against him. Though he considers this a triumph of freedom, the paperwork has been transferred to the District Attorney’s office, suggesting further charges might be forthcoming. Because he considers himself a patriot, Stachowiak talks a lot about revolution, and though he’s careful not to cross the line, whether in personal speech or on his Web site, he proudly marches right up to it, usually fully armed. “Guns are the liberty teeth of the people,” he says. “Guns are there to serve as a reminder to the government that if you eliminate our right to peaceful dissent, the people will resist. But it’s not going to be our first option. It’s always the last and final result.” Though much of what Stachowiak says has threatening overtones, according to FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Anthony Russo, as long as he doesn’t cross that line, there’s nothing he or other law enforcement officials can — or necessarily want — to do about it. “He can say or write whatever he wants as long as it’s not a threat,” Russo says. “None of us feel compelled to massage that at all, because I love being able to say whatever the hell I want just as much as the next guy. I may exercise different judgment than someone else, but ultimately that’s why we’re living where we’re living.” Since his arrest, however, Stachowiak fears retribution. “I’m worried about possibly being set up and being targeted at some point in the future,” he says. “I’m concerned about possible police harassment, because I intend to continue my activism.” Should that harassment occur, his association with policeabuse.com will undoubtedly give him a mouthpiece to voice his persecution.